As English is such a creative and flexible language, I would be very reluctant to categorically state that a word 'does not exist'. New words can be invented all the time, and frequently are. With respect to 'uppest', it is strange that a non-existent word scores so many hits on Google! And not all of them on garbled translations of foreign websites either...

the most logical meaning that came to my mind is, as Vicky suggests, a superlative of 'up' - as in 'to feel "up"' = to feel happy, high etc. There are certainly colloquial uses of the term in this sense all over the web. It also appears to be used by estate agents to describe a top floor (on this one I'm more with Ian and think 'uppermost' is much better).

But with reference to the first usage, I see no reason why not and may even start using it!

No red noses in sight
... with gentle melodic hues. Those who have heard single 'You Are my
Joy' have heard the uppest thing on the album. But go placidly ...
www.tiscali.co.uk/music/reviews/8146.html - 19k - 4 May 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

RAIDEN -
... economy. When it came to solar systems, IOTA Synthetica was the hippest
of the hip, the uppest of the up... the coolest of the cool. ...
www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bevhome/gunnac.htm - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

italian property for sale tuscany house VILLE DI ROTI 108
... recent meticulous works. The roof has been recently restored together
with the new wooden ceiling on the uppest floor. The old terracotta ...
www.tuscanyrealestate.co.uk/Italian_Real_Estate_/ VILLE_DI_ROTI_108/ville_di_roti_108.html - 23k - 4 May 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

Basically I think it's a grammatical word which could exist and ought to be understood, but just isn't used other than to be witty, etc (as someone else said).

Consider the following - you're in a good mood, you decide to describe this as feeling "up". Fair enough, people do it all the time!

But you were in a better mood yesterday - are you gonna say "but yesterday I was upper" or "but yesterday I was more up".

Last Saturday was the best mood you've ever been in - you gonna say "last Saturday I was uppest" or "last Saturday I was the most up (ever)" - admittedly it's clumsy, but IMHO up is one of those words which as an adjective, takes more and most.


not unlike, for example, the adjective "left".....



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Note added at 14 hrs 12 mins (2004-05-06 23:08:58 GMT)
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Isn\'t it just the case that convention says we form some comparatives and superlatives with more and most, even if they do fit the \"rule\" for -er and -est?
I just thought of \"wrong\" as another example.
(Obviously absolutes like \"dead\" don\'t count!!)

http://www.proz.com/kudoz/702941
Question: "glass ceiling"
In the phrase: "You have hit a glass ceiling"

My answer:
uppest barrier/top

The “glass ceiling” is typically defined as an almost invisible upper barrier, which various groups (like women and minorities) run into as they try to move up the ladder of advancement. The effect is that there tends to be a limit to how high a person in one of these groups can go, for reasons other than personal competence. What’s interesting is that many senior managers hit a similar glass ceiling—but this one is of their own making. Sound strange?
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You can bet I could have used "highest" or "upper" or even "uppermost". However, as Lucy suggests, I found "uppest" a more suitable word to emphasize this "hit a glass ceiling".

I am not suggesting that this is a word to use every time we mean "highest". But the word does exist, it is used in the sense other colleagues suggested, theoretically it can exist (in terms of grammar) and I really cannot see the point for all this fuss.

I also considered other colleagues' answers on the specific question better than mine and agreed with them.

Anyway, whether we like a single word or not, whether we think it exists or not, it's up to each one of us to use it or not in the appropriate sense, since languages are constantly developing as Lucy points out.